Shanghai, reviewed properly

Whether it is worth going up depends entirely on what you want from it: if you want the city view, the tower is the weakest way to get one, because from up there you cannot see the tower itself and the best view of it is from the far bank; if you want to stand on a glass floor once, take children up somewhere high, or be inside the building on every postcard, it holds up. The one thing to check before buying is whether the air is clear that day, because on a hazy day the time and the money buy a band of fog.

Violent crime is not the risk in a Shanghai hotel. What costs travellers a day is ordinary: valuables left in the room, a listing that looks like a hotel but is an unlicensed short let, the deposit card at check-in, and the fire stair you never looked at. Deal with those four and the rest is much like staying in any large city.

Usually yes: the wifi connects, it is often quick, and the connection itself is a real one. What tends not to work is what a foreign visitor expects to reach through it, since a set of foreign sites and apps is unreachable on an ordinary hotel network and the list shifts over time. Anyone who depends on a particular service should sort out the route before flying.

Mostly yes, and the risk is lower than the reputation suggests, but it is not zero. The useful distinction is not street versus restaurant but turnover versus sitting out: a stall with a queue sells what it cooks within minutes, while a tray at room temperature may have stood there for hours. Anything cooked in front of you, boiled, fried or grilled is the safer choice; cold dishes and pre-peeled fruit can be skipped.

Ordering in a Shanghai restaurant is hard because of the shape of the meal rather than the language: dishes are shared, a table is ordered all at once and everything arrives together, so you order for the table rather than per person. The rule of thumb is one dish per person plus one more, and vegetables and a staple have to be ordered deliberately, with rice often ordered separately. When the menu defeats you, look for photographs or dish numbers, use a phone camera and a translation app, and carry your allergy requirements written in Chinese by your hotel.